Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill has made himself unavailable for Australia's tour of Zimbabwe next month because he could not travel to the strife-torn nation "and maintain a clear conscience".

Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill has made himself unavailable for Australia's tour of Zimbabwe next month because he could not travel to the strife-torn nation "and maintain a clear conscience".

MacGill, who is currently playing county cricket for Nottinghamshire, informed Cricket Australia of his moral objections to the tour before selectors met to finalise the squads for the two Tests and three one-day internationals.

Players are invited to voice their concerns about any tour "privately and without prejudice" to Cricket Australia.

Chief executive James Sutherland said he had talked with MacGill and understood his decision not to travel, but stressed his belief the tour should go ahead purely for cricketing reasons.

"Our head of cricket operations, Michael Brown, and I have had a number of group and individual discussions with players since before the World Cup and the broad playing group, including with a number who have personal concerns about the ethics and morality of playing in Zimbabwe," Sutherland said today.

"We all understand the difficulty and complexity of the issue, but Cricket Australia, the player group and the Australian Cricketers Association, have agreed that, on balance, playing Zimbabwe cricketers in Zimbabwe is appropriate for the continued development of cricket as a global sport.

"We go there to play cricket with other cricketers to fulfil our obligations to world cricket through the ICC future tours program, and for no other reason."

Unlike England, Australia travelled to Zimbabwe during the World Cup after extensive discussions between the ASA, the players' union, and Cricket Australia.

Sutherland added that MacGill's decision would not affect his chances of future international selection.

MacGill plans to read a statement to media and take questions at the end of today's play in Nottinghamshire's match against Durham.